Like Two Drips Passing in the Night

With my next (and hopefully last) surgery 5 days away, I get a drip down into the back of my throat.  By New Year's Eve my throat is scratchy and at night I cough.  Terrific.  No stuffy nose, no fever, nothing else.  Maybe some itchy eyes.  I tell myself it's allergies.

Of course New Year's Eve is a Friday, then it's the weekend so I'm not calling the surgeon's emergency line to see what's okay to take.  There are a lot of restrictions on medication for 14 days before a surgery; the list is 2 pages long and it's not even "all-inclusive!"  Tomorrow (Monday) afternoon is my appointment to get marked for the surgery, and I figure since I sound much better in the afternoon than I do first thing in the morning, maybe it won't be so obvious. The only real issue I see is that there's no food or drink after midnight and I have survived the last few nights with water and cherry lozenges.  (When I lie flat I cough.)  So I'm going to have to ask about that and hope he doesn't cancel on me.  I find myself trying to remember if the surgery "bed" is totally flat and the ridiculous imagined scenarios take off from there.

I had no real worries that close proximity to lots of people via our annual New Year's Eve and Day hosting activities would pose a threat to me, and I don't think it did.  It was tiring but wonderful to see everyone.  It was also great to chat and laugh and enjoy people enjoying each other's company.  Everyone helped out and thanks to Rod and our friend Linda, the dishes and house were cleaned up by 5:30 yesterday, which is not bad considering that people were with us continuously from about 6 p.m. on Friday through 4:30 on Saturday! 

Last Thursday I actually drove myself (for those who know me well, this is a very big deal) down to Englewood to the surgeon's office, where I handed in my pre-op "permission slips" and the nurse removed some stitches from my back that have worked their way to the surface and were snagging on the godforsaken bra.  (Surgeon was on vacation.)  She (Donna, the nurse) says I must be one of their best patients; apparently nobody else wears their LLB  for as long as the doctor would like and I'm still very careful about getting in my 12 hours per day! Then as long as I was in the neighborhood I swung around to the hospital for the EKG I didn't know I needed until Patient Admissions called that morning to say mine was out of date.

Now the meticulous planning, scheduling, anticipation, anxiety and hoped-for relief for the beginning of the end of this process may be waylaid by a stupid drip.  As I time my cough-free periods and try to see if one of them is long enough to equal the hours in surgery - which so far they don't - I'm getting a little obsessed. Rod says I have over 24 hours to feel better, and I should focus on that, but there's no infection to fight (I'll have antibiotics right after surgery anyway) and there's not much else I can do but rest, drink fluids, and count on the understanding of the surgeon who I hope by now is willing to work with me under not the most ideal circumstances.  I keep telling myself that a)it's not a long surgery (out-patient, IV sedation only) and b)he's just as ready to get me "finished" as I am.



Besides, it's allergies.  Probably.